


Over Again

by Deerman3



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Established Relationship, Fanart, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 10:42:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18444911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deerman3/pseuds/Deerman3
Summary: A scrapped Ham Noir 2000's Non-Powers College AU. Hanging out in a truck, goin' to the movies, eating popcorn, arguing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "established relationship" yes but i DID go back in ttime and show the first time they really talked, in chapter 2.best of bothe worlds if you ask me  
> speaking of chapters this is a one shot but i put chapters so it's easier (?) to read. anyways all the chapters should be up within 10 minutes. is what i mean.  
> i've also prepared little doodles to accompany most of the chapters, featured at the ends of them. getting them to show up is what would make the dang thing take 10 minutes to get all of it out.  
> yeah it wa gonna be longer, but decided not to make it longer!! i wouldnt REALLY call it scrappe but like.  
> yyyyyyyyyy

Ham stood around the Newspaper door for a little while, perking up and looking at anyone passing by the echoey hall, until he felt like an outsider. 

He was lucky when he left because by the time he got to his truck the weather had started to go south. It wasn't past sunset yet, and the rain was patient in the clouds. 

Still it was concerning when he felt eyes on him.

He popped his tail-gate down to see a guy laying around, waiting for him. It was Noir, though, less concerning than most guys. "Y'almost gave me a heart attack." Ham informed him, using the wheel as a step up and laying next to him. 

"Give me your arm. What are you doing, seriously?" Ham bent his neck to kiss him, and then rolled over and used Noir's arm as a pillow. Noir laughed and then coughed. 

Ham let him sit up. "Ahem. Sorry." Noir said.

They stared at each other, Ham waiting for Noir to be like, _oh, what am I doing? me? what am I doing? oh, you know, truck stuff,_ and Noir waiting for Ham to just change the subject, probably. "You can have my arm back, if you want." Noir gestured for Ham to sit next to him, and put his arm around him. 

Ham put his head against Noir's side, listened to his breathing. Ham did go ahead and say something else. "It was a slow news week. I mean, I missed you, But you didn't miss anything else." 

"Oh, that's good." Noir said, with some vein of iron running through his words. Tangy. 

"What. What." Ham prompted, leaning to look at Noir's face. He moved his arm.

Ham wasn't going to let him just be quiet and moody all night. He looked at Ham mildly. "You should try to get to Paper early or on time for once."

"Uh, sorry, not for a 0 unit. What, were you there? Why'd you leave if you were on campus, just sit in the back and sleep and say you'll pick something later." 

"Yeah, I guess. No. I mean I'll show up on Tuesday. I'll write something good. Professor Prameson got mad at me for not writing good. And I got mad back and skipped. I'll write something though." Noir was still laughing it off.

"Oh, well, then, yes, we did miss you! Prameson was like, _our only good writer just stormed out_!" Ham said dramatically, then whispered, "Did you storm out?" 

"Practically." Noir said, adding a wierd little laugh to show that he was properly embarrassed about it. 

"Stormed right out! Wait, what, what were you fighting about." 

"Nothing. I'm over it. It was stupid."

"Fine. Are you, uh, still hungry." 

"I'm starving." Noir said. 

"Cool, cool." Ham said. "It's okay if you want to go home, though." 

"Oh, idiot. I could have just gone home, I guess." 

"This is your home now, baby," Ham patted the truck bed. "We're... seriously, we should go on a road trip some time! I just thought of that. I'm serious."

Noir laughed a little at how easily Ham could get carried away, and Ham laughed along.

"We have too many responsibilities for a trip." Noir brought him down. Glanced from him to the distant purple mountains. 

"Um." Noir said. "Um. You want to see a picture instead? Like, a movie."

"Oh cool, yeah!"

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look at their first meeting

They always went out after Newspaper. They used to call it lunch, but now that they're dating it's called dinner. 

They'd met in Media class, and by met, I mean they sat across the room from each other and hadn't done more than say good morning to each other when they arrived at the same time to class.

But then, one day, Ham went to the library, which was always super stuffy, and the lobby smelled like bananas lately, but the actual library was library-flavored. He started off wasting some time on the computer, reorganizing the notes in his network notes folder, checking out the blogs, he checked his email. Weekly college newsletters and club announcements, and twice-weekly slideshows from one of his more tech-savy professors greeted him from the screen.

"Hey." Noir said, walking past him. Ham got startled but waved back.

There were people standing around at the book stacks, librarians wheeling carts, people. People inside the computer. 

He got distracted, and the screen hibernated, he had stared at his reflection, and vice versa. 

He stood on his chair. 

There was Noir, at a table. 

Noir was tall and skinny, with dark hair and big glasses. One of his eyebrows was interrupted by a scar. He had a black turtleneck and blue jeans, that had caught Ham's eye when he passed. They just really made him stand out.

"Can I sit here."

"Sure." Noir said, not even looking at him, then glancing at him and ignoring him. 

Noir was mean, unapproachable, and horrible at graphic design, but he was easier than starting an essay. Don't tell anyone else that, though.

Ham avoided staring directly at him, but did just sit there for a while before realizing it's weird to not be doing anything, anything at all, at this table with him. All he had was a novel, due to his being a dirty dirty pirate who doesn't do the readings, ever.

He got bored of the book soon enough though, or maybe it's just that his neck started to bother him. 

"Whatcha reading?"

"It's just Gen Ed."

"What." Ham prompted. "Tell me, teach it to me, isn't that supposed to help you with studying." He folded his fingers together.

Noir looked at him like he was a spy, catching Noir reading the same sentence over and over. Or, like he was crazy for wanting to know Noir's boring old book. "Cowboys ate all the grass in the West." Entrapment!

"Yeah, cowboys, love those guys. We usually call them bulls, though." Ham said, and Noir laughed. "Unless you mean they were out there grazing, with chaps and big hats on."

"You know what I meant." Noir itched his cheek, still smiling.

"No, I don't. Well I dont believe you, but I know what you mean."

"Well, I think cowboys only lasted for 8 years. Also it was boring and it sucked, yadda yadda." Noir was a smart guy, wanted to make sure Ham knew he was disillusioned about having missed the old west by a couple of decades. 

"How did cowboys only last 8 years??" Ham said. 

Noir peaked at the previous page. "30 years."

"Oh. Thats not so bad." Ham didn't care, he still liked cowboys, even if they'd eaten all the grass in the west.

"And as for how, rail roads probably. Made it all the way across the country. At some point. Fences." Noir skimmed his text.

"Can you imagine a cowboy retiring and becoming a train conductor?"

"I think they're different people."

"Eh."

Ham had talked Noir into going to lunch with him.

"What time did you think it was?" Noir said, sharing an umbrella with him. There were no worms on the concrete. Also it was pitch black, the rain was driving, and once they got towards a parking lot, headlights kept drilling into them.

"Dinner is good too." Ham said. "All the good places? Still open."

"Let's compromise and call it late-lunch." Noir said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to go to the movies and say some stuff.

"Hop in." Ham said. "So what movie were you thinking about?" He said, turning out of the parking lot.

"What? I don't know, How To Train Your Dragon 3... 5 Feet Apart..."

"What year is it??" Peter said. "You mean Eragon and Happy Feet. Ooh, and there's always Night at the Museum and Stranger Than Fiction. We're living in the greatest cinematic year of ALL TIME. We should sneak into, like, 9 of these flicks."

"No, I can't sit still for 3 hours." Noir said, making a great comment on how movies over the past five years are ballooning in length and you'd be lucky as all get out to see 2 movies in four hours nowadays let alone 9 in 3. "Also those are not good movies. "

"Well, what are you thinking about."

"Just My Luck... Failure to Launch... Devil Wears Prada..."

Oh, no, no, no! Ham said, "Hmmm, I think that leaves Cars."

"Yeah, Cars."

So they saw Cars. And they loved it! They argued briefly in the hallway about sneaking into a second movie, and saw the exact amount of the Prestige one would need to see to be systematically confused about every event in the movie, not just the parts where the audience was meant to be puzzling.

"See." Ham said, walking down the hall with Noir, past all the posters. "That's why I don't like dramas." He looked at Noir.

Noir had fallen asleep in the theatre. He met Ham's eyes. "Yeah." He said. "It seemed like they were too excited about the reveal and skipped a lot in the middle."

Ham laughed.

It was kind of late, so the parking lot was pretty busy, and the bottleneck was even worse, but at least Peter had gotten them this far.

"Can I ask you something." Noir said, quiet and all.

"Yeah, sure." Of course Ham had a strong reaction everytime, but everytime it was something harmless. It was usually Noir trying to understand one of Ham's various character flaws. Harmless, easy to avoid.

"Would you still like me if my personality changed?"

"What, are you changing majors?"

Noir laughed with him. Ham used to make a big deal about everyone in Newspaper being in some English Major cult that makes you annoying, everyone except Noir. "Hey, everybody changes." Ham said. "If we start getting distant, then we can talk. Haha."

"No. I'm serious though." Noir said, voice still light. "I feel like." Oops, I meant it was dark like a darkening cloud. Ham touched his arm. "When I'm alone, I can't stop going in circles. Seeing and feeling the same things. Nothing, ahem ahem ahem, ever, you know."

"Peter, you can tell me." 

Well, now Noir couldn't talk.

"Jokes are good for you just make it a joke." Ham urged, which was dumb advice, but it was important to talk right? Sometimes crying means it's working, right?

"Ahh, can't even write good stories anymore." 

"Oh, this is about Prameson?"

Noir went through all the FM stations on Ham's dash radio. "I know it'll be different on a real paper. It won't all be fluff pieces. Real news is still happening, I mean."

"Yeah. I mean, also, they're screening Moonlight at the GSA."

"They are."

"And Lorax at the Environmental Club."

"Lots of movies."

"And someone is putting on a Stonewall doc, but it's NOT GSA." Ham said. "They don't have the guts! I'm kidding, I don't know why it's not the GSA."

"Moonlight, or a Stonewall documentary with no name."

"Right, yeah, it goes Moonlight, forgettable Stonewall doc, RENT. And someone's gotta be there to round them all up." Ham said.

* * *

  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Friday now, time to go all over the place and enjoy evening.

"Where do you want to go."

Ham itched his cheek. "Um, oh, there's that place on Church. I mean, there's a sandwich place I think, they have good macaroni. And then there's a cheesesteak place also. Fancy ice cream place."

"Oh, down by that one library. Okay, yeah. Yeah, let's get some macaroni." Noir said, smiling at the end.

"It's crazy macaroni. Oh, you mind if we stop for gas?"

"Sure."

There were four gas stations 1 block from the college. Ham let Noir pump. Then they were on the road.

"So what's up." Ham said.

"Nothing. Remember when we left your wallet at the Chili's at the mall?"

"And my aunt killed me, yeah. Remember when we got kicked out of the one by my place?"

They ended up at the Chili's by the smoothie place, eating chips, teasing each other and flirting. Chili's food is bad though, (which is why they got kicked out that one time) so they took advantage of their young-man metabolisms and ate dessert and chips and that was it for dinner. 

They stopped by Ham's place because, his laptop was there. They played stupid video games, and went for a walk.

They went to a store and bought some soda and popcorn. They passed the crepe place with the neon tubes of fireworks. They passed the main campus of the school.

"You look so good, you look good in the dark."

"Ahh, eyes on the road." Noir laughed.

"Eyes on the road indeed." Ham said, parking. The cab-lights came on when he took the keys out. "Oh hey! Also stunning in light."

"You too, you're so cute."

When the light turned back off, Ham turned into a pair of bright floating eyeballs, very expressive, and Noir looked, well, lit with lots of contrast, like there was a street light somewhere with his name on it, brow and jawline. "You always look so dramatic." Ham climbed easily onto the console. Noir touched his cheek.

Oh, the way Noir was looking at him.

Ham climbed into Noir's lap, leaning on his chest, and kissed him.

Noir's dorm was empty, and Ham burnt a bag of popcorn while Noir argued with one of his hallmates. "Why's it always us?" Noir was saying. Ham accidentally looked out the door Noir was leaning on, and saw the sympathetic hallmate, who's face brightened dumbly upon seeing him. Ham waved back, then stared resolutely at the bag. You would think that Noir would be the one who couldn't figure out how to make popcorn in a bag. 

"I got the popcorn." Ham said, passing the new, good bag to Noir to open, just in case it exploded like it does on TV. It didn't. Later Ham would throw one or two at Noir to correct the carpet's nakedness. 

Speaking of, Noir took his coat off, which did make him look a little less dramatic, without that collar, but also less like he was wearing a crazy bathrobe, which is what Ham would say about the coat if he was feeling very rowdy or mean, but he wasn't. Well, maybe a little rowdy, but can you blame him?

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talkin' bout houses and livin'

They watched a movie on his laptop, and they got to talking.

* * *

"A pool?" Noir said, seeming less unwilling and more doubtful.  


"Pigs can swim. Haven't you read that book about that pig that could swim?" Ham doggie paddled, neglecting to tell Noir that the pig's name was Runty McRuntpaws and also could fly. It made Noir laugh, anyway. "What about you?"  


"I want plants in the house, I really like that."  


"Two stories or one?"  


"One."  


"Aw, I'd want two with that little bonus room they put in new houses. I mean, it's not like we're ever gonna get old. Climbing up stairs wise."  


"Yeah." Noir said.  


"What's the craziest, wildest thing you would want? I'd want hamster tubes to run around in."  


"What?"  


"You know, how hamsters get rainbow pipes to crawl in, my wildest house would HAVE them in it, just really big, like 4 feet wide, like 5 feet wide, and you have to crouch. Oblong, six feet tall and 3 feet wide. 6 and a half. And you don't."  


"3 feet, are you, like, obsessed with suffocating in there??"  


"NO, I just want to feel like a spelunker in TRON, I want to know what's so cool about hamster tubes. That's my wild dream."  


"I don't know." Noir said. "Maybe some trees in the backyard."  


"What kind? The kind that drop fuzzy caterpillars? Fruit?"  


"Pine trees maybe..."  


"Ah, yes, the dream of all guys like you, the Twilight House."  


Noir snorted and ignored him, but also didn't. "Maybe a big window. Wild-flower meadow"  


"I think we could really have an amazing house." Ham said.  


"Yeah, our Washington State Grecian hamster house." Noir said.  


"Have you ever seriously thought?" Ham said. "Maybe after summer. I bet we could get a place that's not as terrible as my place. NOT to rush it, but if you don't plan, then you don't plan."  


Noir whined. "I don't know if that's the best idea. For both of us. I'm... I'm all dark and scary... my dark side..." Noir said, and Ham was 100% not buying it, and Noir read if off his face. "I do, I do, I do, need to be alone. I'm sorry, Peter, I don't know if I'm cut out to get serious like that. Wait, that sounds so callous, I didn't mean it like that. I, I,"  


"You know I'm kidding about all that 'never growing old, never graduating' stuff, right?"  


"I know. It's easier to imagine the past than it is to imagine the future. I want us to have one. What if I don't. What if I don't grow, what if I never change."  


Ham was like, I really don't know what to do with you! Pick one! "That's just how it is, you just, you just do." He said softly.  


"What if I just get worse and worse, and just start picking fights and torment both of us. We should stay the way we are, I don't want us to get comfortable."  


"That sounds, Peter! That sounds bad!" Ham said incredulously. "Just don't do that. If you don't want us to get comfortable, then, what, are you uncomfortable??"  


"Hey, black and white thinking is my job." Noir said, but now Ham wouldn't laugh. "No, I just, I just, I don't like being familiar with people, I don't like when, when, when we can just be ourselves, because then I'm stuck with myself and I'm alone again!" Noir said, chest or throat too tight to put very much voice behind the exclamation point. "At least this time we're not doing this in your car."  


"Hey." Ham said, totally disarmed. "Hey," He said, thinking, soothing. "Maybe you have to be stuck with me, and I'll be stuck with you."  


Noir looked at Ham. He'd, of course, been avoiding that for a little while. He was touched by the nonsensical, useless, and very romantic thing that Ham had just said. "Are you comfortable?"  


"Ohh, I don't know if I could think of enough jokes if I was constantly trying to get you to like me, still, to still be getting you to like me. I think I ran out. I mean good ones, you know?"  


"You know that I like you." Noir said.  


"Yeah, of course I do. It's nice. I really really really really really really like you. I don't think you would put up with me if you didn't like me."  


"I'm not putting up with you. You're easy."  


Ham accidentally smiled pretty affectedly at that.  


"What?" Noir said.  


"Nothing. It's nice to get called easy sometimes."  


"Easy to be with, I meant!"  


"I know what you meant!" Ham laughed at him. "It's still funny though. Easy to talk to, easy to crack." Ham paused and amended himself. "Well, not to crack, don't worry."  


"Oh, yeah, the last thing I would want is for you to understand me." Noir said, and Ham laughed.

* * *

> Here is my "human au ham" where he was a pill bug bitten by a pig, had rolling up into a ball powers, turned into an armadillo. im just kidding hes just a pig in it. oh wait i dont have to tell you that, i did drawings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yea there ya go. ill admit noir would probably just not say any of it. be better at argueing abouthaving a dark side im not saying human au noir didnt kill vulture though but you know. i wanted to write about, i guess looking inside. anyways i hope you liked my drawings (PS I put little blurb descriptions in the alt tag I don't know if it shows up but comment and ill move it out of the alt tag and into the text) and i hope you thought my "MS Paint vent art" one was funny and i hope you enjoyed reading this sorry if the geography is wrong i dont understand new york peacse thank you


End file.
